DECLASSIFYING THE CLASSICAL

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

slider-bg-15My good friend, Nathaniel “Nat” Chaikin is a visionary missionary. Not content with his intense schedule as a free-lance musician and cello instructor and member of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Nat has set out on a mission to quietly bring classical music down to the vast public that does not like it or thinks it will not like it. He is doing this, step-by-step, unpaid gig after low paying gig, dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt, often taken for a busker except that  he does not set out a tin cup.

Nat plays in places as quiet as a library or as noisy as Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, often surrounded by passersby  and inattentive children whose parents make no effort to teach them that music should be listened to quietly. But he plays on, and, as he plays, people fall silent and listen. That is the sort of minor musical miracles he can create.

Nat will play anywhere where there are a few chairs and an electrical outlet for his boombox. Nat’s mission has a name: BACH AND BOOMBOX (http://www.bachandboombox.com)

Give Nathaniel Chaikin a listen. He’s one of those unassuming people who create miracles. And we all know that classical music needs some these days.

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”